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User blog:Willbachbakal/Classes
For those of you who don't know already, Riot recently posted a dev blog outlining their classification of League's champions. This is a massive step forward in setting the grounds for discussion on what classes should do, how each champion fits into this system, how they stand out, what tradeoffs they make for one kind of power over another, etc. Personally, though, I don't entirely agree with the classes and subclasses they put out, for a few reasons: * Unintuitiveness: The biggest issue I take with the system is that it tries a little too hard to avoid typical names and notions of classes, which have been ingrained in players' minds for years, and often reinforced by other games. Case in point: Controllers. This archetype is meant to group up "Enchanters" (i.e. casters like , who directly assist allies) and "Disruptors" (i.e. utility mages, which they themselves named), but clearly, this is meant to be the Support archetype, repackaged under another name. Similarly, "Skirmishers" (i.e. light fighters) are placed under a "Slayer" archetype when until now they were always considered fighters. * Misnomers: This gets more into nitpicking, but I feel some of the names and subclasses don't quite work: the word Skirmisher doesn't really describe light fighters well, for example, because the name implies they go in and out of combat when they usually stay in fights once they enter them. Excluding utility mages from classification and instead coming up with a not-quite-identical Disruptor subclass messes up a lot of champions: suddenly, champions like , or , who are all considered to be easy examples of utility mages, suddenly become Disruptor-Battle-Enchanter hybrids or the like, simply because they don't really fit otherwise. Splitting tanks into Wardens and Vanguards only half-works because many "Vanguards" have very different goals and playstyles from each other (tanks like and like to lock down and focus single targets, whereas champions like and try to affect as many enemies as possible with their abilities). Because of these, here's my take on the class system, with explanations: Assassins= , . - Hunters= This is what I think could cover assassins purely focused on single-target burst and retreat. Hunters tend to have extremely good backline access, whether it's through massive mobility or utility that lets them bypass enemy defenses (e.g. untargetability, stealth), and tend to go hard on a single target, blowing everything they've got as fast as they can before retreating after securing the kill. * Core Advantages: Better target selection, better dueling potential. * Core Disadvantages: Forced to commit to targets, back-loaded power in fights. * Examples: , . - Reapers= What I think covers assassins who tend to be the best among their class at killing multiple targets, whether it's with cooldown resets that let them chain kills, large amounts of AoE damage, or both. Reapers tend to not be too target-discriminate and will look more for opportunities to get the ball rolling than for a specific target. * Core Advantages: Front-loaded damage, mid-fight resets. * Core Disadvantages: Telegraphed engages, poor control over their target access. * Examples: , . - Rogues= Might not be the right word (Saboteur could be an alternative), but the idea is that these are assassins with above-average crowd control and/or utility for their class. Rogues are still kill-focused, but tend to influence the enemy team through disruption first, and try to mess up their effectiveness even while not specifically going for a kill. * Core Advantages: Greater non-damage power, more direct effectiveness with and against teams. * Core Disadvantages: Less overall damage, weaker in direct combat. * Examples: , . }} |-| Fighters= , . - Juggernauts= Juggernauts are mostly well-explained in the original blog post: they're the hyper-durable heavy weapon that takes effort to bring to the middle of a fight, but once they're there, you absolutely do not want to be in their line of fire. * Core Advantages: Superior resilience, superior AoE threat. * Core Disadvantages: Low mobility, poor target access. * Examples: , . - Divers= Riot frames Divers as the less durable of their two Fighter subclasses, but let's be honest, Divers are pretty tanky, and generally lack hard strengths and weaknesses (a core issue with the class, and the main reason they're getting a class update in the future). If they had to be resumed to a few key features, Divers are generally fighters who specialize in launching themselves into fights and pummeling single targets until they die. * Core Advantages: Burst long-range mobility, burst CC. * Core Disadvantages: Lower persistent damage, larger downtimes due to cooldown gates. * Examples: , . - Striders= I think "Striders" is a better fit for light fighters than "Skirmishers", since I feel it does a better job of evoking the feeling of weapon mastery (all light fighters depend on an iconic and extremely powerful weapon, usually a blade of some kind) and moving swiftly from kill to kill. Striders focus purely on damage, and rely on kit-based defenses, rather than natural tankiness, to keep going in battle. Since these champions are DPS-focused and tend to be comfortable killing enemy after enemy, instead of retreating, I feel they fall under the Fighter archetype. * Core Advantages: Superior persistent damage, persistent short-range mobility. * Core Disadvantages: Squishiness, unreliable abilities. * Examples: , . }} |-| Mages= , . - Bombards= Basically, Artillery Mages, and the name might not be the best (Bombards were massive medieval cannons, though, so the name could fit). These are mages who like to kill their enemies from really far away, usually well past vision range. * Core Advantages: Superior reach, safer damage. * Core Disadvantages: Exceptionally unreliable at close ranges, exceptional squishiness. * Examples: , . - Warlocks= I.e. Battle Mages. Like to fight in close quarters, and tend to engage in protracted combat by dealing a lot of DPS and absorbing incoming damage. Again, the name might not be the best, though I picked "Warlocks" since most warlock-type classes in games tend to have a focus on damage over time and self-sustain (e.g. the Warlock class in World of Warcraft) or even heavier armor, and are generally the mage subtype that gets the closest to the thick of combat. * Core Advantages: DPS, resilience. * Core Disadvantages: Lower reach, weaker crowd control. * Examples: , . - Sorcerers= A.k.a. Burst Mages, champions who specialize in killing specific targets extremely quickly, usually in a single ability combo. I picked "Sorcerers" here because sorcerers in games are usually extremely powerful and offensively-oriented magic users, who kill enemies with a few highly potent spells (e.g. Sorcerers in Dungeons & Dragons). * Core Advantages: Burst damage, increased reliability through combos. * Core Disadvantages: Less individually effective abilities, high combo downtimes. * Examples: , . }} |-| Marksmen= , . - Skirmishers= Basically, duelist marksmen, and here I think Skirmisher is the right term, because these marksmen tend to enter fights just to focus on a single target before exiting and returning again when they're able, relying on their mobility for critical repositioning and on timed windows of power to kill people efficiently. * Core Advantages: Mobility, lower dependence on allies. * Core Disadvantages: Greater downtimes, less effective target switching. * Examples: , . - Eradicators= What's meant to describe teamfight/AoE marksmen (the name might not be the best, though). I feel there's a strong subset of marksmen who have access to really strong AoE, persistent damage steroids or otherwise target-indiscriminate forms of damage that let them specialize in killing lots of targets in quick succession. * Core Advantages: AoE, superior DPS. * Core Disadvantages: Poor repositioning, usually require preparation time. * Examples: , . - Commanders= Commanders are meant to describe utility/CC marksmen, who tend to specialize in power other than raw damage against other champions, so crowd control, utility, objective control and pushing power. * Core Advantages: CC/utility, team synergy. * Core Disadvantages: Reduced damage, increased dependence on allies. * Examples: , . }} |-| Supports= , . - Clerics= Another name for Enchanters, i.e. caster supports, usually ranged champions with abilities heavily focused on allies. I kind of take issue with the name "Enchanter" because it presumes that these supports' most valued contribution is to directly empower allies, when they're usually picked for their ability to save teammates first and foremost. Many of these supports also don't have any major means of directly empowering allies besides shields or healing, which is why I think Cleric would be a more appropriate term (clerics focus on protective and healing magic). * Core Advantages: Superior team synergy, superior utility. * Core Disadvantages: Exceptionally poor damage, exceptional dependence on allies. * Examples: , . - Harbingers= What I think should cover support-fighter hybrids (as opposed to support-tank hybrids, which I feel are separate). Harbingers tend to be durable short-ranged champions who rush into combat while assisting allies, and tend to work well in duos where they set up kills and protect their partner in the heat of combat. I chose the term "Harbinger" here because they usually bring impending doom, usually by setting up kills for their partner. * Core Advantages: Kill setup potential, resilience. * Core Disadvantages: Low reach, vulnerable to kiting. * Examples: , . - Sages= Utility mages with a shorter name (sages tend to have mystical power while also often resorting less to violence, which may or may not be what I'm trying to describe here). Since these are halfway between mages and supports usually, I think it's about as fitting to put them here as under Mages (though players usually think of these champions as mages first, even in the cases of utility mages that have migrated almost completely to bot lane). From a mage perspective, they're mages who trade off damage for extra utility or control, and from a support perspective, they're ranged supports who trade off ally-oriented synergy for additional magic damage. * Core Advantages: Damage, reduced dependence on allies. * Core Disadvantages: Reduced team synergy, less reliable abilities. * Examples: , . }} |-| Tanks= , . - Wardens= Riot gets it right here, Wardens are defensive tanks who specialize in peeling for allies and protecting them, using their bodies to mitigate damage intended for their teammates and redirect it towards themselves instead. Wardens also include tank supports, but I feel it's more appropriate to list the subclass here because most wardens tend to be able to do decently as solo laners. From a tank perspective, Wardens sacrifice offensive capabilities in favor of extra peel and defense, and from a support perspective, Wardens sacrifice reach for better durability. * Core Advantages: Peel, superior resilience. * Core Disadvantages: Reduced offensive capabilities, reduced threat generation. * Examples: , . - Jailors= What's meant to represent lockdown tanks, i.e. tanks with powerful hard crowd control they get to apply near-constantly to single targets. Their goal is usually to pick the most threatening member of the enemy team and prevent them from functioning completely until someone else intervenes. * Core Advantages: Superior single-target crowd control, burst mobility. * Core Disadvantages: Reduced AoE threat generation, poor target access. * Examples: , . - Disruptors= The missing tank subclass. I think there's a third subclass of tanks who, like Jailors, are offensively-oriented and like to output a lot of crowd control, but instead of focusing specific targets, Disruptors like to catch as many targets as once with their abilities, and specialize in AoE disruption. * Core Advantages: Superior AoE threat generation, reach. * Core Disadvantages: Reduced crowd control, increased constant exposure. * Examples: , . }} What are your thoughts on this? Do you like the above classification? What issues do you think it has? Category:Blog posts